NFR notebook: Myers turns steer wrestling crown into a family affair

Victoria Sun

Monday, Dec. 17, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

With his father, Butch, sitting in the stands of the Thomas & Mack Center, and his brother, Cash, standing nearby on the arena floor, Rope Myers lived up to his family name Sunday afternoon.

Rope, the last contestant in the final go-round of the 10-day National Finals Rodeo, tied for third in the round with a time of 4.0 seconds to clinch the NFR average title and win his first steer wrestling world title.

That's not all.

In his seventh consecutive NFR appearance, Myers set an NFR average record with a total time of 37.4 seconds on 10 head, shattering the previous record of 42.0 seconds on 10 head set by Mickey Gee in 1999.

"This is cool this week," said an ecstatic Myers. "Setting the record for the average, that's something I haven't gotten a hold of yet.

"I told people a long time ago that, as much as I wanted to win a world title, I wanted to win the average in the finals because there's something about that.

"Just 10 steers, just you against everybody else. Regardless of what you had coming in, you get 10 tries to be the best and it's pretty cool."

Rope, 32, won $6,870 in Sunday's go-round and a $34,677 bonus for winning the average to finish the week with $117,774. That gave him a season total of $176,584.

Cash, 10 years younger than Rope, finished sixth in the world standings at $103,623.

This isn't the first time a member of the Myers family has won a world title. Their father won one in 1980 and held the previous NFR average record before Gee.

Even if Myers wins more world titles, he will cherish this one because he came into the NFR ranked 14th in the world standings, the lowest he's ever qualified for the finals.

Just as inspiring was the story of Tom Reeves.

The veteran saddle bronc rider left his home at the age of 16 to rodeo full-time and had qualified for the finals 16 times without winning the world title.

He had come close several times only to go home empty handed, but not this time.

Reeves, 37, captured his first saddle-bronc world title with a 79-point ride on Rodeo Houston, owned by Beutler Brothers & Cervi.

The ride moved Reeves from fourth to second in the average with 634 points on eight rides for a $28,134 bonus and he finished the year with $204,008. Glen O'Neill entered the NFR first in the world standings, but had only four qualified rides in 10 performances to finish second to Reeves at $188,058.

"It's unreal," Reeves said, tears welling in his eyes. "I just kept telling myself do what you've got to do, let it roll and stay focused."

He credited many of his friends, including Jesse Bail, Red Lemmel and Stran Smith, for cheering him on to the title.

He even got some extra encouragement from steer wrestler Rod Lyman.

"Rod Lyman told me he's going to whip my butt if I messed it up," Reeves said, chuckling. "So I had some good coaches."

Other world champions crowned on Sunday:

LaJeunesse's 81-point ride on Durango vaulted him from sixth to second in the average, earning him $28,134 in addition to $4,580.10 for his ride to clinch his second world title. Mote dropped to sixth in the average worth $8,505.90 and finished second in the world standings at $163,940.32, behind LaJeunesse's $185,556.31. The average was won by Clint Corey with 811 points on 10 rides.

Stone entered the finals 12th in the world standings. He earned $112,321 at the NFR for a total of $174,771. Defending world champion Cody Hancock set an arena record with a 96-point ride on Mr. USA to finish second in the average and second in the world standings at $165,337.